Iowa high schooler talks about finding jellyfish in Iowa waterway

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - An Iowa high schooler couldn’t believe what he caught this weekend while fishing with his dad, a jellyfish.

The Iowa DNR said this doesn’t happen often. Last week, the Iowa DNR reported two jellyfish sightings in Iowa water bodies, doubling the state’s sightings in just one week. The U.S. Geological Survey said this is likely due to fish stocking, which involves adding fish to a body of water so people can fish recreationally. This particular animal is a freshwater jellyfish native to China, but it’s been found in the U.S. since the 1930s.

Oskaloosa Freshman Oscar Schiferl spends a lot of his time patiently waiting for the perfect fish bite.

“I get to hang out with my dad, and do fun things and learn new stuff,” said Schiferl.

This weekend he and his dad went to a less familiar fishing hole at Russell Wildlife Area in Mahaska County.

“So I can see if I can catch a bass there,” he said.

Jellyfish by the hundreds.

“I found a jellyfish in Iowa,” exclaimed Schiferl.

Schiferl scooped up two and brought them home, even giving them names. As you can imagine, jellyfish are not native to Iowa. The Iowa DNR said it’s not invasive because the jellyfish don’t cause known harm. The USGS said freshwater jellyfish are in lakes in China in shallow, slow-moving bodies of water and were likely brought to the U.S. accidentally with stock fish, plants, or waterfowl. Schiferl said he also alerted the Iowa DNR.

“They said they were going to go down there and grab some samples and double-check that there were jellyfish there,” he said.

Schiferl said he planned to keep Billybob Junior the III and Dave, but he said this fishing trip has opened his eyes to much more than just fishing. He wants to be a biologist.

“Since I never knew these species of animals existed especially about freshwater jellyfish,” said Schiferl.

The Iowa DNR said just because the jellyfish don’t cause any known harm doesn’t mean they want to see jellyfish spreading into other bodies of water. It is illegal to dump fish tanks and aquatic plants into Iowa bodies of water.